DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thanks to all the reviewers! Your encouragement and assistance is basically the thing that keeps us, writers, going.

This chapter had originally been written as one logical part of subsequent chapter, but it would be WAY too big to post it as one huge chapter. I had not choice but to separate those into two.

Chapter posted on: 27.12.2016.

Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.

Rated M – for mature and adult themes.

Enjoy…

Chapter 11 – Calm Before the Storm

The next morning, the fully rested and rejuvenated Marcus and Jaina stood side by side on the captain's command platform in CIC and watched the holographic representation of the Theseus system, with Feros extracted and enlarged on a separate projection.

"So, how do you want to do this?" she asked.

Marcus examined the planned flight path on the general system projection.

"We'll go in silent," he replied after a moment. "We should make it a standard protocol: always go full stealth as soon as we're out of FTL."

"Reduce the risk of sudden attack or ambush," she agreed with a nod. "We should talk to Adams in engineering to see if it might overstrain the stealth system, though. He mentioned there were some limitations with blue-shifted emissions."

"That's what he said?" Marcus queried as he looked at her over his shoulder, to what she hummed in affirmative. "Could be that the frequency is too high for the IES system to catch the blue-shifted emissions for some reason, but I'm not that much of an expert. I'll have a word with him on the matter."

"What would that mean for us?" she asked, nodding toward the strategic map.

He sighed. "Well, Saren's ultimate goal in this is Feros, but since Theseus is not a relay system, he could enter it from any one of these possible directions, so stalking him in outer regions of Theseus is non-feasible."

"That's assuming we get there before he does," Jaina cautioned. "Saren knows that the Council has the data he tried to kill Tali for. He'll expedite his plans."

He inclined his head. "I can't argue with that; that's what I'd do." He spent a couple of moments in silence. "I think it'd be best if we were to head directly to Feros," he said at last. "If Saren is already there, we devise an insertion strategy; if not, we set up. Stay low key. Wait for him to show up, to leave an opening. No sudden assault. If he comes, then the presence of that super-dreadnought of his is guaranteed, and I'm not eager to explore the potential of its armament."

"If he's already there, then he will have a significant number of forces with him," she pointed out. "It would be possible to ascertain the location of the Cipher based on the concentration of his troops. An insertion would be preferable. The Normandy could perform a combat drop with the Mako."

Marcus nodded, licking the inside of his cheek as he thought on the matter. "The Mako insertion means that Normandy will be exposed to the enemy, though."

"Maybe, but I doubt they could target us automatically," she said. "The VI-s and guided missiles need emissions, and we have none. We will be an anomaly. They'll hesitate. It will give us time to deploy ground strike team."

"Yeah, but once that happens, they'll immediately flag the Normandy as a bogey," he said as he straightened out and leaned back against the railing with his hands crossed. "Stealth or not, they'd be able to track it with any average CCD system. They'd pursue the ship, which means we won't be able to control the skies." He trailed off for a moment, thinking. "Not unless we have someone here who has the initiative to guide the ship into best tactical positions to perform air support while evading enemy, that is."

Jaina mulled it over as she looked off to the side with a concentrated frown. She spoke quietly so only he could hear:

"That could be a problem. What you're talking about is tactical aerial combat with frigates – that's not something your average pilots are trained in. It requires heavy tactical situational awareness, and no matter what the PR likes to say, it will put too much load on a single pilot. I mean – Joker's the best, but he can't exert that fine control the ship while forming battle tactics at the same time. Nobody can. He'd need someone to guide him through the tactics."

"You're not thinking Pressly, are you?" Marcus asked just as quietly.

"No. No way," she replied firmly enough. "He's a space navigator; he does not have the skills needed for navigating a pilot through atmospheric combat conditions."

"I figured as much," Marcus replied. "That is why I need you here."

"Me?"

"We were trained to operate atmospheric fighter planes during N training, Jaina," he said. "And you were the best damn pilot of us all. You know how to navigate in low atmo better than anyone, and that's what Joker needs – a tactical aerial combat navigator. While he flies, you'd be the one to direct the tactics he'd use."

She was silent for a moment. "You're right," she said somberly.

"Well, we'll see how situation develops first," he said. "But I'm pretty sure you will be far more useful here than down there."

She nodded. "I'll do the necessary preparations."

"Alright; I'll go down to engineering to talk to Adams. We'll see what the capacities of our stealth drive are if we are to plan this appropriately. If we can instantly switch it on or off, it'll be a great advantage in open combat."

Marcus left the CIC and quickly descended down to the cargo hold. He first moved to the Mako, and saw Garrus crouching on one knee on the vehicle's roof, and working on the terminal that was hooked to the Mako's main gun.

"What's the situation with our combat vehicle?" he asked the turian.

"Commander," Garrus greeted him with a nod. "The Mako is fully operational and ready to go at any moment. The main gun could do with a bit more precision calibration, but it's nothing big."

"What's the bell curve?" Marcus asked.

"The expected value is at minus point-zero-one on the horizontal, with a standard deviation of point-zero-five," Garrus provided.

"That's negligible," Marcus replied with a nod.

"Well, it's just that us turians like precision," Garrus coughed.

"Hey, you won't get any complaint from me, Garrus," Marcus replied. "We're a few more hours away from Feros. Just make sure the Mako is ready the moment we leave FTL."

"Understood, Commander," he replied. "And, Commander?"

Marcus stopped and turned back toward the turian. Garrus jumped down from the roof of the Mako and stood face to face with him.

"I want to thank you for bringing me along with you on the hunt for Saren," Garrus said. "Working with a Spectre has so far proven to be much better than working in the C-Sec."

"How so?" Marcus asked.

"Well," Garrus grinned and tapped the side of the Mako. "Working with all of these nice toys right here beats having to deal with bureaucrats and the red tape I had to deal with in C-Sec; that's for one. I still cannot believe the rules they tried to saddle me with."

Marcus snorted a laugh. "Last time I checked, this was a military vessel, and anything military is rules-galore," he said. "You can't tell me this'd be better than what you had in the C-Sec?"

Garrus laughed.

"I've served in the army, Shepard; I know darn well what rules are and why they're there. But there are sane rules, and there are insane rules. Military rules exist for the purpose of smooth functioning of the military – they exist to serve the military itself. But C-Sec works for civilians, and as such, all of its rules are made for the purpose of serving some very powerful civilians.

"Bottom line: the amount of red tape one has to deal with is beyond maddening. The more critical the case was, the more these little issues and annoying bureaucratic nuances would start to appear that would hamper my case just by existing. It started feeling as though all the C-Sec rules were made for the purpose of protecting the ones that should be brought to law."

"Hell, Garrus," Marcus laughed. "Every sovereign state does that, and you won't ever be able to change it. Laws are there to ensure order, true, but the kind of order the powerful few behind that rule the state behind the curtains prefer it to be. Humans, for instance, have had dozens of different ideologies through the ages, many of them polar opposites. We have shaped the law to suit those ideologies – never mind the fact that it always allowed the privileged few to oppress the many. It still is so today, except that it is wrapped in silken gloves, and has a tender touch to lull you while they rob your pockets."

Garrus chuckled, shaking his head as he look down to the floor. "Yeah, that certainly is how it felt being stonewalled on every step. Never thought of it like that, though." He then raised his gaze to meet Marcus's, looking somber. "But now that you've said it, it sure makes sense when you explain it like that. It was frustrating. Helpless. I needed to watch a lot of bad people walk away because of the rules. Maybe this time with a few good people around and no rules to bind us, I can finally make a difference to the good."

Marcus looked pensive for a moment. "That's a slippery slope right there," he said, leveling a warning look at Garrus.

"… I know," Garrus said. "But maybe I won't have to be the one to make the tough choice… yet."

Marcus nodded.

"You might need to, sooner rather than later," Marcus said. "That's how this operation will be like. No going around it. But I assure you we will make a difference, even if we do what needs to be done."

Garrus nodded somberly.

"I understand, Commander. Thank you," he said, before he glanced back to the Mako. "If that'd be all, I should return to my work."

"Carry on," Marcus said and moved off.

He entered the engineering bay, and was greeted with the whooshing sound of the mass effect wave that traveled down the drive system. He cast a gaze over the engineering, taking note of the busy crew working various sections, before Engineer Adams greeted him.

"Nice of you to drop by, Commander," he said. "I was thinking of seeing you about that quarian girl, Tali'Zorah."

Marcus looked to the far side, noticing Tali who stood in front of an open panel in the wall, and worked something with her omni-tool with the systems that were inside.

"Is she giving us trouble with her tinkering?" Marcus asked with a serious tone.

"What?" Adams frowned in confusion, before his eyebrows shot up in surprise. "No! That's not what I meant for it to sound like. No; what I wanted to say is that that girl's amazing! I wish my guys were half as smart as she is! Give her a month onboard, and she'll know more about our engines than I do."

"Huh," Marcus spoke in mild surprise, then smirked. "Didn't expect a chief engineer to admit it so freely."

"Hey, I'm not vain, Commander," Adams replied. "I know how to recognize a good thing when it appears in front of me. This girl is a god-send."

Marcus looked back toward where Tali was working.

"So she's actually helping with the ship?" he asked.

Adams chuckled. "You can say that again," he said. "She's got a real knack for technology, that one. I figure you've brought her along for her expertise with the Geth, but she's been helping way more than that."

"Really?" Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You have no idea," Adams said. "She's already presented us with several methods in which we can seriously increase our performance. Turns out that quarians are experts when it comes to repurposing existing tech to do something else as an addition to what it already does – a kind of assistance to other systems – and our ship just benefited from it."

"What are we talking about here?" Marcus asked.

"Well, you know how energy always goes through a state of conversion when used by one mechanism? Once used and converted, that energy needs to go somewhere. Usually, it is lost. It turns out, though that quarians are experts at repurposing that energy. Now, we basically harness and recycle all of that energy that the various systems have already used. Our powergrid capacity and power efficiency have skyrocketed!"

"Hmm… interesting," Marcus said genuinely. "Got any practical examples for me?"

"Take your pick," Adams said. "She's already optimized our stealth system and added fifteen minutes of stealth time. And let me tell you – that's a lot! She has also worked out a way to reroute the static charge through our hull, and to make it slowly dissipate through the massive surface area while we're still at FTL. It's not a lot, mind you, but she has effectively added additional five hours of FTL flight before the need for discharge, and the method does not put any strain on our sensors. Background systems are experiencing reduced energy waste by a quarter!"

"That's… impressive," Marcus said with genuine surprise. "It plays right into our hand for what we're planning to do when we reach Theseus system. Which is what I wanted to talk to you about, in any case."

"Whatever you need, Commander," Adams nodded.

"I intended to go full stealth the moment we exit FTL in Theseus," he said. "Can the stealth drive hide us while we exit the FTL?"

"No," Adams stated with shake his head. "The FTL entrance and exit make us blue-shift our emissions. IES cannot catch those frequencies."

Marcus rumbled deep in his throat. "Figures. I'd need options for remaining stealthy as we exit FTL."

"Well, we'd be good if we were to exit FTL behind an outer planet or near sun's corona, so that it hides any energy bursts of our exit," he said. "The latter is definitely easier. The sun's corona is huge, and it burns at millions of degrees, so any FTL burst would remain hidden by huge solar emissions. Pressly and Joker could navigate the ship through the maneuver easily. We're good for any sub-FTL system flight after that. We'd have just over two hours of active flight before needing to exit stealth to empty our heat sinks, which is more than enough to crisscross any system twice over."

"And if we were to drift in?"

"Assuming you want to drift in at near-light speed, but not above it?" Adams queried, to what Marcus just nodded. "That would put significantly less strain on the heat sinks, for sure. With full engine-controlled flight, you'd be left with about one hour of stealth once you reached Feros. With drift-in, you'd be good for an additional forty five minutes on top of that."

Marcus did the math in his head, before nodding.

"Thanks, Adams, that's all I needed to know," he said, then looked toward where Tali was engrossed in her work. "I'll be seeing you later, eh?"

"Any time, Commander," Adams replied, and the two separated, each going his own way.

Marcus moved off toward Tali, scrutinizing her work. She seemed to be greatly absorbed in whatever she was doing – lost in her own world of engineering mysteries and technical tinkering. People told him before he tended to do that as well. It gave certain perspective seeing it from the outside.

"Hey there, Tali!" he called.

She jumped up, startled, and whipped around.

"Oh! Hey there, Shepard!" she chirped. "You startled me there."

"Just wanted to make sure you have everything you need," he said.

"Oh, don't worry about me, I carry everything I need with the suit," she replied. "And the accommodations are luxurious. I must thank you for purchasing all that wonderful dextro food."

"You don't need to give unnecessary praise, Tali, you won't offend anyone. This is just a military ship, and it has few amenities."

"It might seem that way to you, but to a quarian, this ship's a yacht," she stated. "And it's even more than that – it's a work of engineering art! Just look at this mass effect core!"

She walked up to the railing and looked up at the blue swirl of suspended eezo.

"This core is equivalent to a one from a cruiser," she said. "I cannot believe that you managed to place a mass effect core of this size into a ship this small. This truly is a work of incredible engineering. I didn't know Alliance's ships were this advanced."

"Not all the ships are like this," Marcus replied. "The Normandy's as special as it gets. It was made together with turians, uses top-of-the line tech, highest grade materials and the best crew the Alliance has."

"Precisely my point, Shepard," Tali spoke in her lilting accent. "For thousands of years, the technology of modern Galactic civilizations followed the same trend, same doctrine, same proven style. Ships today are not at all different than the ships that were around centuries ago. Their capabilities are the same, their materials are the same. I know, because quarians still have many warships that fought in the Geth War, and our ships were even more advanced back then than even turian or asari. And then humans came with their carriers and medigel, and started turning the old staid views of other species upside down."

"Three hundred years old ships, huh?" Marcus commented, shaking his head. "How the heck is it possible that those ships are not falling apart at the seams? Every material has its fatigue age, and for ships its usually no more than fifty years – a hundred if you're careful."

"That's because us, quarians, don't have a capitalistic system as the rest of the Galaxy has," she replied simply. "We can't afford it. The entire Galaxy revolves around money and consumers that… well - consume. But us, quarians, we cannot produce new things like you can. We need to use things sparingly, to conserve and recycle everything. It wasn't until Geth Uprising that we learned just how long can a ship last if you're careful with it."

"Damn," Marcus muttered. "I can't believe those ships still work."

"They work, but that's just because we keep repairing and upgrading them with whatever we can find," Tali said with a sadness creeping up clearly into her voice. "A month ago I was patching a makeshift fuel line into a converted tug ship in the flotilla. Now, I'm sitting aboard what is likely the most advanced vessel in the Citadel Space. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you have given me this opportunity."

"I'm just glad to have someone as skilled as you here," Marcus said sincerely. "Not to sound like we're using you, but I can't deny that our ship has benefited greatly from your expertise. Adams tells me you've fit right in among his engineering crew."

"They have been beyond friendly," Tali exclaimed animatedly. "Quarians never felt welcomed anywhere. They always shun us, but this place is amazing. Your people are amazing!"

"It's good to know things run as smoothly as you say," Marcus said. "It's important to me that all of my crew is genuinely friendly towards each other. Space isn't friendly, nor is it forgiving. It is only by having everyone feeling welcome on my ship that we can ensure we come on top of everything. There is no other way; I'm glad you're feeling happy here."

Tali shifted on her feet, looking left and right and wringing her hands.

"I… thank you, Shepard," she said, and Marcus noticed a hitching break in her voice.

"Hey, don't mention it," he said with a smile. He started to turn, when he suddenly remembered something. "Listen, Tali, Jaina and I would love to know more about quarians in general. Would you be willing to share?"

"Of… Of course!" she exclaimed. "Most people don't care about quarians to ask. I'd be happy to tell you everything about my people that you'd like to know."

"Well, that makes three of us, because I know how Jaina would be interested," Marcus replied, smiling. "How about after this mission to Feros is over and if it turns out we have a little bit of breathing room? In the meantime, you prepare in whatever way it is that you need."

"Of course, Shepard," she stated readily. "See you later!"

Marcus exited the engineering bay in short order, and came upon Wrex, who had just exited the elevator – probably from where he was getting some chow on the crew deck. Without stopping, he motioned for Wrex to follow him, and walked up to the workbench that he had used the previous day to modify and upgrade weapons, with Wrex now trudging a few steps behind him.

A large object covered with a large piece of cloth took up the entirety of that separate workbench. Marcus grabbed the cloth and pulled it down, revealing a massive piece of weaponry, unlike anything seen or used in the modern-day battlefields.

Wrex looked at it in silence for a few moments, before he turned one eye to Marcus.

"What is that?" he asked slowly as he pointed his upturned palm at it, his posture painting great interest.

"That's the weapon you will be using while you work with us," Marcus replied.

"Doesn't look like any weapon I've ever seen," the krogan rumbled as he took a step closer and examined the weapon more closely. "Looks like an anti-materiel rifle on steroids with all these extra parts added to it… And what is this armored belt that connects it to this boxy radiator-looking thing?"

"For one, it's no longer a sniper rifle," Marcus said. "It's a machine gun. A heavy machine gun."

He pointed along the additional parts that ran under and over the length of the bore and surrounded it on both sides, giving it a massive, muscular look.

"This whole system that surrounds the bore is actually a heat sink" he said. "This part that works as the undercarriage is the man part. The liquid coolant flows through it, and goes through the pipes through the armored belt you've seen – a pair of pipes, for exchanging hot and cold liquid – and it goes into the radiator," he pointed to the large metallic box. "It is basically a heat-exchange system. The radiator has active power and cooling turbines within. It is necessary to have one; this weapon produces so much heat that conventional heat sinks aren't gonna cut it."

Wrex had kept one of his eyes on Marcus as he spoke, then looked back at the weapon when he had finished.

"So, how does this work?" he asked. "How do I carry this gear on me?"

"That is just the reason why I called you: to see how it sits on your back, and if we need to make some adjustments. Turn around."

Wrex shrugged, then turned his back to him. Marcus moved the massive weapon across the workbench, and grabbed the radiator. He raised it and carefully pressed it onto Wrex's back. There was a hiss and the clamping sound as the several rails extended and hooked the device onto Wrex's armor with a mix of magnetic and suction clamps.

"How does that feel?" Marcus asked.

Wrex hopped in place and twisted his torso around as he experimented with the new weight.

"Not too different than when I would carry flamethrower tanks," Wrex nodded.

"Good. I've made it so that there's still plenty of room on your lower back for the shotgun. Now, grab the weapon itself."

Wrex reached out and hefted the massive weapon into his arms. There was an unmistakable interest painted in his whole demeanor, and a small smile formed on his large lips.

"Shit, Shepard," he said. "This really is one heavy weapon. He-he-hee!"

"Any problems with carrying it?" Marcus asked.

"No," Wrex replied as he aimed it down. "No problems at all. Hell… it has been ages since I held a mighty-looking weapon like this. Us krogan used the ones almost as big as this back during the Wars. It was a standard-sized weapon for us… before we were banned from having weapons and armor. I've held a defunct one in my hands when I was still on Tuchanka all those centuries ago. Not as big as this one, but…"

There was a moment of silence as Wrex was engrossed in his new weapon.

"What's it like on Tuchanka?" Marcus asked, and immediately noticed Wrex scowl.

"I don't know; I haven't been there since I left four hundred years ago, "he said annoyedly. "It was a pile of radioactive rubble then, and I'm sure it's a pile of radioactive rubble now. I've left that ball of dirt and junk, and I'm never going back."

Marcus took careful note of the tone in which Wrex spoke. It was not anger; it was bitterness. So he played dumb.

"Sounds almost as if someone put a bounty to your head," he said. "You have some enemies down there?"

"There's no bounty," Wrex said. "And yeah, I have enemies. Every krogan has enemies. Except my enemy is the entire krogan race. I tried helping, and got a knife in the back for it. I gave up on them long ago."

Marcus distracted him on purpose:

"See that switch on the side of the rifle?" he asked, making Wrex refocus his attention to the weapon. "Press it."

Wrex did so, and a gentle hum started emanating from the radiator backpack as the turbines spun and pumped air through the panels.

"The radiator works fine," Marcus said as he measured readings with his omni-tool. "Coolant flow optimal. That button is the safety brake, remember that. It's rigged so you cannot fire the weapon unless the coolant flow is achieved."

He took a breath of pause, then spoke again:

"So, someone tried to fuck you up real good back then on Tuchanka? Yet I see you're still here – living, breathing, and kicking. Sounds like someone was either incompetent or they bit off more than they could chew."

Wrex looked at him sideways with his red eye. "What's that? Some poor attempt at tryin to fluff my ego, Shepard?"

Marcus stopped adjusting the backpack and looked at Wrex. "Do I look like a man that'd bother fluffing other people's ego?!" he deadpanned, an edge creeping into his voice.

"Hmm…" Wrex rumbled deep in his throat, then looked back forward. "That's good to know, because I don't need you to tell me my own worth. Me surviving sure wasn't for the lack of trying on their part. Hell, they were some of the finest warriors that were left around after the Rebellions. So yeah… no incompetence there – that's for sure. It was a bunch of hard-ass veterans against a one-hundred-and-twenty year old kid. And I showed them, alright."

"So, if they're dead, why are you here?"

"Because the krogan on Tuchanka are fucking idiots," Wrex growled. "They'd sooner kill each other just for the heck of it. If I'm about to put my head in a grinder, I'll have them pay me credits for it. So I got the hell outta there. I've been a mercenary ever since, and it has worked out for me just fine."

"Hmm," Marcus continued adjusting Wrex's radiator backpack. "Got any interesting stories to tell?"

Wrex gave him an annoyed look. "Well, there was this one time that turians released the genophage on my entire species," he said acidly. "That was fun."

Marcus looked at him in disappointment.

"What're you doing? What is that?" he asked, shaking his head. "At one point you claim you couldn't care less about the krogan, and a minute later you rant about the genophage? Mind explaining the confused human here, because I really don't fucking get it," he finished dryly.

Wrex glared dangerously at Marcus with one eye as his breathing accelerated. He panted audibly like a large bull.

"Whatever!" the big krogan barked in the end, shifting on his feet in annoyance. "I purely doubt you'd understand, and I don't feel like wasting my time talking. Now, can we focus some more on this weapon? Do I need to carry it in my arms all the time, or can it be packed?"

Marcus sighed contemplatively for half a second, before he nodded, shifting gears back to the matter at hand.

"Just mount it on your back like you would a heavy weapon, straight down the middle," he said. "The radiators are separated down the middle to allow the weapon to be hooked between them."

Wrex did so, and Marcus nodded satisfactorily when the weapon retracted its bore and stock into a compact form and settled firmly on top of the radiator system

"How does that feel now?" Marcus asked.

"I need to lean forward a bit to keep the balance," Wrex said. "Nothing big, though. So, when can I shoot from it?"

"We'll reach Feros in a few hours. I guess there might be some chance there. You can keep the weapon now. I've done all the optimizations that I can here. By the way, here's a targeting program for your helmet HUD." He activated his omni-tool and transferred the program to Wrex. "Nothing fancy, just a basic one for general direction and dispersal, optimized for that weapon. It's not exactly a sniper anymore."

"As if that wasn't clear enough from its looks," Wrex noted. "I sure am eager to see whether its killing power is as impressive as its size."

"That makes two of us," Marcus replied as he started moving toward the elevator. "See ya later, Wrex!"

"Shepard," Wrex nodded and moved to where his cot was at the corner of the cargo hold.

Marcus climbed up to the crew deck, and as he turned around toward his cabin, he passed Ashley who had been sitting at the lunch table and talked to one of the crewmembers. When she saw him, she quickly excused herself from her company and stood up to move alongside him.

"Sir," she spoke up in greeting.

"What can I do for you, Ash?" he asked casually with an inviting nod.

"I was wondering if I could take two minutes of your time?" she asked hopefully.

"I keep an open door policy," he said. "If you have any issues, by all means, talk to me – We'll keep it off the record." He nodded toward the doors to his quarters. "Come on, we can talk over there."

She followed him into his cabin, and declined the seat when he offered it.

"No, thanks, Skipper, I'm fine," she replied.

He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright, Ash, talk to me."

She sighed, obviously steeling herself.

"It's about the aliens, sir," she said. "I know things are different now on the Normandy, especially since it's a vessel outside Alliance's and under a Spectre's command, but… should men like Vakarian and Wrex, or even Tali'Zorah, have full access to the ship?"

Marcus frowned, narrowing his eyes. "What's your concern?" he asked.

"This is the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, sir," she said. "Nobody else has a ship like this, and it gives us an edge over them. What if the aliens steal intel, or erase some vital data or even sabotage the ship?"

Marcus felt disappointment.

"You mean – what if someone gave them an order or that they themselves had decided to do the things you just said for the purpose of advancing their own species?" he asked to clarify.

"Well – yeah, of course," Ashley said in an 'obviously' manner, a nervous smile dancing on her lips. "I mean, it'd be perfectly natural for the members of their own species to be more important to them than humans are. They might be our allies now, but I don't think that we should put everything in them staying allies forever just because of some tradition."

Marcus sucked air in through his teeth as he looked up and scratched his five-o-clock shadow pensively for a moment, before he looked to the floor, waving a finger at her.

"You know, Ash, I like the way you're thinking; being honest, but also having a healthy dose of cynicism can keep you alive. But in this case, you're not thinking things through," he finished reproachfully.

A small smile that had formed on her lips died down.

"You see, you forget that this ship was built in cooperation with the turians," Marcus continued. "That means that the turian government already has the layout of this ship inside and out in detail. That, however, definitely doesn't mean that they could remotely disable this ship, or anything even close to that. It goes far more than simply knowing the layout of the ship for you to actually do something about it. Our half of the engineering team would have made sure that all systems are secure. As for Wrex or Tali – when are the krogan or quarians going to start building new ships? If they were to start – by some magic – it'd be decades before they reach Normandy's level, by which moment we'd have something far more advanced.

"If they sell the information about Normandy's tech to a third party that would want to build this ship, then that third party would still need to dish out billions of credits to build a ship this expensive. If, however, you think they want to sell info about some exploitable weakness for some pirate or terrorist to hijack this ship, then you forget that that's what the trained crew is here for to prevent.

"As for your fear of system sabotage, well, you forget that every console is protected by a security password for each crewmember, as well as a bio scan. Nobody unauthorized can access it. If they were to try, they'd need to perform a long, arduous hack that would last hours, and would have been picked up by the system if it was remote. Don't forget how tough military hardware and software is."

Ashley deflated, exhaling, yet her eyes were searching around for straws to grasp.

"I guess I understand what you're saying, Skipper," she said, "but Tali and Garrus are still allowed physical access to Engineering and the Mako to tamper with. What if they sabotage the ship and our IFV like that?"

"And – what? Vent themselves or blow themselves up as well?" Marcus demanded pointedly with a scrunched frown. "Garrus will be riding in that Mako through the battle with us, Chief – or have you forgotten why I invited him on this ship?"

Ashley was silent, looking uncomfortable at the situation as she cast her eyes down to the ground. Marcus studied her for one long moment before he spoke again.

"This goes deeper than mere soldier's concern for the ship," he stated as he kept his stern, piercing gaze on her. "You hold deep dislike for aliens in general."

Ashley went rigid.

"No, sir, it's not that," she said hurriedly. "It's just that I don't trust any alien. I think that us, humans, should stick together and learn to rely only on ourselves."

Marcus scrutinized her for a moment as he gently scraped his teeth against each other, and then released the breath he was holding as he started speaking.

"You know, Chief, there's a difference between what a government does, and what a man does," he said. "If there was no government, no Council, no politics, no nothing – except you and this one alien needing to trust each other in order to survive – what would you have done?"

Ashley laced her fingers in front of her midriff, thinking on it for a moment.

"Well, I suppose that we'd… find a way to coexist, I suppose," she said. "I mean if there was nobody else, just us… if there was nobody from the outside to force their politics onto us, then I think that… yeah… we would have worked through our differences. Maybe we'd be friends, even," she finished slowly.

Marcus let that sink in for a moment, and then he asked:

"And do you think there's any politics going on here?"

"Well… there's the Council, and –"

"Let me rephrase that!" he interrupted her firmly. "Do you think there'll be any politics allowed on a vessel which is fully under the command of a human Spectre with full military background?!"

Ashley's eyes widened the slightest bit, and a ghost of a smile worked its way in the corners of her lips.

"No, sir!" she said firmly. "I don't think there will be."

He nodded. "Good. Keep that in mind once we reach Feros."

Ashley smiled, nodding. "I will, sir," she said. "I'll trust you to keep everything in line. Now, if you don't' mind, I should get to my duties."

"One more thing," Marcus called with a cautionary raise of his finger. "What you said that aliens will care more for their own species – that's true. It would be insulting them to think otherwise, it is as it should be, and that is okay. And that doesn't mean that Tali, and Garrus, and Wrex, and Liara are not 'okay' as people either. I want you to think about that, Chief; I want you to think real carefully, because those people's good will is the thing that will be watching your back out there. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir," Ashley replied somberly. "I will try to work toward that, sir."

"Good. I'll be seeing you then, Chief," he said with a nod, and escorted her out of his cabin.

He stood in front of his cabin's door, watching Ashley walking off toward the elevator, before he checked the time on his omni-tool. There was still several hours before they were due to reach Theseus. He cast a glance across the dual lounge and mess hall area, before he noticed Kaidan sitting at one of the lounge tables, going through some intel on a datapad as he enjoyed a cup of coffee. A thought came to him then, that having another impartial opinion on the crew might be good. Kaidan did strike him as careful and calculating man.

"Lieutenant," Marcus spoke up as he approached the desk where the lieutenant sat, to what Kaidan raised his head. "Got a minute?"

"What can I do for you, sir?" Kaidan asked as he placed the datapad down.

"I was hoping I'd get your honest opinion on the team we've gathered for this mission," Marcus said conversationally as he sat down and leaned forward with his elbows against the desk and stapling his fingers in front of him. "I need to see where the crew's at."

"Tapping for potential issues, huh," Kaidan said perceptively. "Yeah, I can understand that; small ship and few people having worked with aliens before."

"Have you noticed the ship's operational crew having any issues with that?"

"Well, Navigator Pressly has voiced his reservations," Kaidan said slowly. "He does not like aliens in general, but I'm pretty sure it's because of the First Contact War. I think his father fought there. He's the 'old guard', still remembering how it was."

"You think it might lead to problems with his performance?" Marcus asked.

"With Pressly?" Kaidan intoned, smirking. "No way. He likes to grumble a bit, but he's an Alliance officer, through-and-through. He's gonna do his duty without question, to the best of his abilities."

"Good to hear. Anybody else?"

"Not really, Commander," Kaidan said, thinking on it. "Everyone else is pretty much alright. I even overheard some engineers that passed by earlier commenting on how much they appreciate Tali being around in particular."

Marcus nodded. "And what about our ground teams?"

"Well, Miller's team is pretty solid," Kaidan said. "They're all N2-s, and they were handpicked by Captain Anderson. I know some of them; they're very reliable."

"And the specialists we've recruited?" Marcus asked.

"Who do you want to start with?"

Marcus spread his hands with a shrug.

"Let's start with Wrex, Garrus and Tali," he said.

Kaidan seemed to think on it for a moment, then spoke:

"To tell you the truth, I wouldn't know what to think about Wrex, sir. He keeps mostly to himself, but he's a canny one; you can see that from a mile away. Not sure about his intentions. The way I figure it, money is what matters most with such people, but I'm not an expert.

"Garrus is okay, I guess. I figure since he's law enforcement, he holds himself to a higher standard. Not sure how it is with turians in the military, though; they might have some different views on things, see. I… did have some experiences with the turians before I enlisted that weren't exactly roses and rainbows, if you know what I'm saying, but I'm not the kind of man to judge others based on previous experiences. What I'm saying is that I'd just wait and see how it goes with Garrus."

"You're not having any issues with him – or Wrex?" Marcus asked.

"None, truth be told," he said. "I understand your reasoning for bringing them here, and I agree – we do need experts in various fields. Our lack of experience shouldn't be the factor that decides if we trust or mistrust someone."

Marcus nodded, prompting him to go on.

"As for the quarian girl, she actually seems to be a brave one," Kaidan continued. "Hell, it takes a lot of courage to leave your family on your own and go roam the Galaxy. This Pilgrimage seems like a cruel custom to me, but I'm not the one to judge; not like I know anything about it, anyway. Like I said, the scuttlebutt says the engineering crew has taken to her quite well. There will be no problems there, I reckon."

"And what about Liara?" Marcus asked.

"Doctor T'Soni?" Kaidan asked. "She seems nice enough – polite, smart, and seems like a sweet girl… easy on the eyes, too – assuming one likes the bookish sort."

Marcus smiled and motioned toward him with his chin. "Any intentions there, LT?"

"None, sir, actually," he replied with genuine disinterest. "Just aesthetic appreciation."

"I'm not saying anything, LT," Marcus raised his hands. "She's not Alliance, so if you want to go for her, you won't be hearing anything from me."

"Nah, it's not that, it's just that I prefer more… adventurous women," he said.

"Alright," Marcus nodded, then stood up. "I won't be taking more of your time. Thanks for the input, Kaidan. I'll see you later."

"Aye-aye, sir."

Marcus walked off toward the CIC stairwell, thinking carefully on the psycho-social state of his people. Good, capable people, all of them. Still, a lot of rough edges. A lot of baggage with each and every one of them. From blatant things such as Ashley's xenophobia and Wrex's violent history, to something old and partially healed with Liara and Kaidan. It was there. He could see it. He just didn't know what it was in each and every case.

He needed these people. There might be some others out there that could be better than them, true, but these people had solidity to them that he hadn't encountered in a long time. So, he would work with them, help them, even out the edges. Uncover the old scars so that he could re-bandage them properly and help them heal.

He just hoped that his and Jaina's touch would be enough. Not just because of Feros, but because if how things seemed to be progressing, this... quest... would take a lot of time; time for things to either go good or bad. And time would only tell.